Prepare Cold Tea with the Cold Brew Method

The cold brew method involves infusing tea leaves in cold water rather than hot or boiling water . Because cold water doesn't extract flavors as easily as hot water, the steeping time is considerably longer. It's a similar method to sun tea, but instead of letting the pitcher of tea steep directly in the sun, with cold brew, we place it in the refrigerator.

Cold brew tea can be made with tea bags or loose tea, although we recommend using loose tea for best results. With this short guide, you'll learn how to easily prepare cold brew tea using the cold brew method.

Recipe for preparing cold tea

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of tea leaves per cup of water or 250ml. If you want to make a liter of tea, that would be 4 tablespoons of tea leaves.
• Water
• Optional additions of your choice (lemon slices, fresh mint, raspberries, etc.)

Steps to follow

1. Fill a glass pitcher with room temperature water.
2. Add the tea leaves. You can add them directly or use a strainer to remove the leaves more easily later.
3. Cover the jar with a lid or kitchen towel and place it in the refrigerator.
4. Steep the tea in cold water for 6 to 12 hours. If you're using green or white tea, we recommend steeping it for 6 to 8 hours, while for black tea, oolong tea, Pu-erh tea, and herbal teas, we recommend steeping it for 8 to 12 hours.
5. Taste the tea every few hours until the flavor is to your liking.
6. When the cold brew tea has finished steeping, remove the tea leaves using a fine mesh strainer.
7. Add any additional ingredients you like and serve in a tall glass with ice.

Tips for cold infusion

While making cold-brewed iced tea is relatively easy, there are some practical tips you can use to ensure your tea is as flavorful as possible.

Infusion Time

The longer the tea steeps, the stronger the flavors will be. Some teas, like Earl Grey black tea, contain high amounts of tannins that can develop astringent flavors. Some people enjoy these bitter notes, while others prefer milder flavors, so be sure to taste your tea every few hours while it's in the refrigerator . This will help you find the perfect flavor.

Use the appropriate utensils

We recommend using a glass carafe or other glass container, such as a mason jar, for cold brewing tea. Glass not only allows you to see how the color of your tea changes, but it also doesn't react with any ingredients. Some metal containers can react with acidic elements, altering the flavor of your tea, so it's best to avoid cold brewing tea in metal bowls or jars.

If you choose to make cold-pressed iced tea with loose leaves, it's a good idea to use a fine mesh infuser or cheesecloth to strain the leaves . These utensils help remove even the finest sediment from the tea leaves, ensuring your glass of tea is crystal clear and free of tea dust.

We recommend using quality loose leaf tea to achieve the best flavors. Since cold-brewed tea takes longer to develop its flavors , using poor-quality leaves can result in unpleasant astringent notes.

Use of sweeteners

Since the cold brew method requires cold water to make tea, only a few types of sweeteners can be used to sweeten the tea. Cold water doesn't dissolve hard sugars, such as cane sugar or brown sugar, well . Instead, you can use a liquid sugar like syrup or agave to sweeten your tea. However, we generally don't recommend consuming sugar and prefer to use fruit to sweeten our cold brew teas naturally, thus achieving a 100% healthy beverage.

Conservation

You can refrigerate your iced tea for 3 to 5 days, depending on the ingredients you use in your iced tea recipe. Be sure to keep the pitcher covered to prevent other foods from contaminating your tea with unwanted odors or flavors.

What teas are good for cold brewing?

You can use virtually any tea for cold brewing, but these are the types of tea we recommend most:

• Pai Mu Tan white tea is one of the best teas for cold brewing. Try our Organic Pai Mu Tan with Lavender.
• Green tea is by far the best type of tea to cold brew. Unlike a hot cup of green tea, cold brewed green tea will never taste bitter. Discover our organic green teas.
• Blue tea, or oolong tea, isn't typically used for iced tea, but it's a great option for cold brewing. This Jade Oolong tea, with its floral notes, is ideal.
• Cold-brewed black tea has less caffeine than your regular cup of black tea. With a lighter, sweeter, and more refreshing flavor, it's a great beverage to sip throughout the morning. The smooth, full-bodied Ceylon Ahinsa Organic black tea is a great tea to use as a base to add other ingredients such as mango, peach, or berries.
• Aromatic, minty, and refreshing herbal infusions are ideal for cold brewing. While almost any herbal tea can be cold brewed, some may require more time to develop their full flavor. We recommend trying our Rooibos with Turmeric and Lemon or our Olive Leaf and Apricot Infusion.

Benefits of cold infusion

• It requires very little effort and the result is delicious.
• You don't have to worry about water temperature or ruining your tea with boiling water.
• You'll have enough tea for at least a day.
• Cold brewed tea will never be bitter
• It is a tasty and calorie-free alternative for summer
• It has less theine than herbs and teas with theine since cold water extracts less theine from the tea leaves.
• The same antioxidant power as hot tea, but with less astringency
• The same type of tea offers a different flavor when cold brewed.